Giving people easy Fataawa about divorce to save their homes
21-9-2010 | IslamWeb
Question:
Dear Sheikh, I have gone through in details of arguments for the following divorce fatwas presented by both sides and concluded that research done by Ibne Taymiah, Ibne Qayyim, many contemporary scholars from Lajjanah Al-Daimah and Haiyah Kibar Al-Ulama in KSA is more correct scholarly opinion. They include the followings (all details are from Sharah Al-Mumti and Kitab Al-Talaq by Ibne Uthemeen, Fatawa Islamia, Fatawa Ibne Baz, Fatawa Noor Ala-Darb, Fatawa Ibne Taymiya, Zaad Al-Maad by Ibne Qayyim, Igasa tul Lahfan fil Huqm Al-Talaq Al-Ghasban by Ibne Qayyim, Nizam Al-Talaq by Ahmad Shakir, Muhalla fil Asar by Ibne Hazm). 1. Divorce is not valid in menses, nifas and in tuher after intercourse. 2. Between two divorces, there must be either a Ruju or a Nikah. Means next divorce cannot be valid if given in iddah of previous one. 3. Three divorces in one sitting is valid as only one. 4. Divorce is not valid in extreme and medium anger. Only in mild anger it is valid. 5. Divorce under force is not valid (when husband gives divorce under considerable threat of physical, financial damage etc.) 6. Divorce in intoxication is not valid. 7. Khula is not a divorce even the word divorce was being used. Many times, when I see divorce cases in Muslims, I advise them to follow these fatawas as they are correct as well as easy for Muslims. I also explain them that the Scholars giving these fatawas are the most knowledgeable and world-wide accepted authority in Islamic ifta. I also explain them the evidence for above fatawas written in books. And many people, upon my advice, are convinced and follow these fatawas and save their homes. Is this good that I refer to them to these fatawas only with the intention in my heart that their homes can be saved. Yet I fully understand and know that those fatawa are correct scholarly opinion based on evidence.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Allaah ordered a layman to ask the people of knowledge about things that he does not know; Allaah Says (what means): {…so ask the people of the message [i.e. former scriptures] if you do not know.}[Quran 16:43]
Therefore, if any incident happens between a husband and wife, they should ask the people whose knowledge and religion they trust, and they should act according to the Fatwa that they issue to them. Hence, if you were asked and you have the ability to balance between different pieces of evidence and you are able to say which opinion is the most preponderant among the opinions of the scholars, then you may issue a Fatwa according to that opinion, and the one who sought a Fatwa from you should act according to it.
As regards conveying a Fatwa of a Mufti, then if the person who conveys this Fatwa is trustworthy and is sure about the information he conveys, then it is permissible for him to convey it and the person to whom this Fatwa is conveyed should act according to it. Ar-Raazi 
said in “Al-Mahsool”: “It could be said that if the narrator (of a Fatwa) is a trustworthy and just person and is capable of understanding the words of the Mujtahid [the person making Ijtihaad, i.e. the juristic opinion on matters which are not specified in the Quran and the Sunnah] who died and then he narrates the statement of the Mujtahid to a layman, then the latter should believe that he is truthful in what he narrates. If the Mujtahid is just and trustworthy, then this requires believing that he is truthful in that Fatwa, and in this case, the layman should understand from these two beliefs that the ruling of Allaah is what this live narrator has narrated to him from that dead Mujtahid. Since acting according to what one predominantly thinks to be the truth is an obligation, then it becomes obligatory upon the layman to act according to it. In addition to this, there is a consensus among the scholars of our time that it is permissible to act according to this kind of Fatwa.”
Then what should be looked at in your case is taking this matter as a methodology and a way of seeking the easiest solution for a husband and wife, and this is a matter that should be investigated especially that many such opinions contradict the opinion of the four School of jurisprudence. Dr. Iyaadh Ibn Naami As-Sulami, the author of “Principles of Fiqh which a Faqeeh is not entitled to ignore” said: “It should be mentioned that following the concessions of the different scholars (which is dispraised) is a matter of a person who always follows the controversial opinions of the scholars. However, if he acts according to the easiest opinion in one issue or two because of his need for it, then there is a difference of opinion about the validity of his act.”
Among the scholars who consider the permissibility of acting according to the concessions when in need as the most preponderant opinion is As-Subki who said: “It is permissible for an ignorant person to imitate a scholar and take the concession from him when in necessity, but without following the concessions of the different scholars (on a regular basis), and hence it is correct to say that the difference (of opinion among the scholars) is a mercy because concessions (in principle) are a mercy.”
Furthermore, if the layman knows that the view of the majority of the scholars is different from what is reported to him, then it is better for him to act according to their view as a way of being on the safe side.
Allaah Knows best.